Apparatus for receiving and delivering mail.



J. A. CHAMBERS. APPARATUS POR RECEIVING AND DELIVBRING MAIL.

* APPLICATION FILED 00T. 21, 1913. 1,082,498.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

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J. A. CHAMBERS. APPARATUS PoR RECEIVING AND DBLIVPRING MAIL.

APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 21, 1913.

1.082,498. Patented Dee. 3o, 1913.

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J. A. CHAMBERS. i APPARATUS rop. RECEIVING AND DBLIVERING MAH..

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 21, 1913. 1082498 Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

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`Attorneys COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co..vlAsmNG10N. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. CHAMBERS, OF NEWBURG, MISSOURI, ASSIG-NOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO CLAIRMOORE AND ONE-FOURTH TO RALPH DOWELL, BOTH OF NEWBURG, MISSOURI.

APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING- AND DELIVERING MAIL.-

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. CHAMBERS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Newburg, in the county ofPhelps and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful r-rpparatusfor Receiving and Delivering` Mail, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to apparatus for effecting the 'interchange ofmail between moving trains and stations passed thereby, one of theobjects of the invention being to provide means whereby mail holders orreceptacles will be propelled from the car to the station receiver andvice versa while the car is passing the receiver, the power utilized forpropelling the holders being derived from the moving car.

A further object is to provide throwing members at the stations, saidmembers being so arranged and proportioned as to throw the mailcontainers into the car sub` stantially in the direction in which thecar is moving so that, when the mail container lands within the car itwill remain practiw cally stationary. A

Another object is to provide a receiver to be located at the station andwhich, after actuating the throwing member mounted on the car, willshift automatically away from the track so as to be spaced a sufficientdistance from the train to avoid injuring passengers who might beleaning from the sides of the cars.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement o-f parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can -be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings z-Figure l is a plan view of the apparatus, a portionof the car Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led October 21, 1913.

Patented Een. 30, 1913. serial No. 796,495.

being shown in section and the various parts being illustrated in thepositions occupied thereby immediately prio-r to their actuation. Fig. 2is a side elevation of a portion of a car having the presentimprovements combined therewith. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of thereceiver. Fig. A is a section through the receiver and a portion of thecar and illustrating the relative positions of the parts immediatelyprior to the interchange of mail. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a mailcontainer designed to be used in connection with the apparatus.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A designates a carstructure having a door opening a and secured to the outer side of thisstructure adjacent opposite sides of the opening a are brackets l. Atripping arm 2 is adapted to be supported by these brackets at eitherside of the door, this arm being curved from end to end, as shownparticularly in Fig. l and being for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

Arranged within the car structure and close to each side of the openinga is a bracket 3 in which is journaled the downwardly extending end 4 ofan arcuate supporting arm 5. Each of these arms is adapted, when swungoutwardly, to extend through the door opening o and to lap the outerside of the car wall. The arms 5 may be held in outwardly extendedpositions by buttons 6, or in any other suitable manner. The outer endof each arm 5 has an upwardly extending pintle 7. Pivotally mounted uponeither of the pintles 7 is a throwing member 8 consisting of oppositelyextending arms 9, said member being pivotally mounted at its center andbeing provided, adjacent its center, with an outwardly extended bail l0which extends downwardly below the throwing member 8 and carries ananti-friction roller ll, as shown in Fig. 2. This bail is fixedlyconnected to the throwing member so that, when the bail is thrust ineither direction, the throwing member will be correspondingly moved.

Mounted upon the outer side of each end portion of the throwing member 8is a holder or seat 12 preferably angular as shown in Fig. 2 and whichis so proportioned as to constitute an efficient supportfor a mailcontainer such as shown, for example, in Fig. 5. This container may bein the form of a box 13 formed of leather or any other suitable materialand provided with a closure 14 which can be fastened in closed positionin any suitable manner. 1t is to be understood that when the throwingarm 8 is not in use the arcuate arm 5 supporting it can be swung intothe car so as thus to support the throwing member in the positionillustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

At each station where the interchange of mail is to be effected, a novelform of receiving and delivering mechanism is employed. Rails 15 arearranged close to and at right angles to the track on which the car ismounted and these rails are engaged by wheels 16 which serve to supporta truck 17 on which is arranged an elongated frame 18 upstandingtherefrom. The said frame is inclosed at its back, sides and top withcanvas or other suitable durable fabric such as indicated -at 19 or byany other preferred material, thus to form a hood or receiver. That faceof the receiver nearest the track on which the car is mounted is open. Aholding rail 20 is arranged between and parallel with the rails 15 andhas a notch or opening 21 therein. This notch is adapted to receive a.locking pin 22 connected to one end of a lever 23 which is fulcrumed, asat 241, upon the bot-tom of the truck 17. r1`hat end of lever 23 remotefrom the pin 22 projects beyond the open face of the hood or receiverand into the path of a tripping cam 25 which is connected to the bottomof the car A so that. when the receiver is in active position, this camwill strike and ride over lever 23 as the car passes the station,thereby lifting pin 22 out of the notch. One or more springs 2G areconnected to the truck and to a structure back of the truck so that, assoon as the pin 22 is disengaged from notch 21, these springs will shiftthe truck backwardly away from the track on which the car is traveling.

A hanger 27 is suspended from the centerof the open face of the hood orreceiver and this hanger engages the middle portion of a throwing member2S consisting of oppositely extending similar arms 29 each of which isprovided upon the end portion of its outer face with a supportingbracket or seat 30 similar to the seat 12 hereinbefore described. A bail31 is extended outwardly from the middle portion of the throwing member28 and is preferably provided with an anti-friction roller 32 adapted tobe engaged by the tripping arm 2 on the car A. The bail 31 is ixedlyconnected to the throwing member 2S so as to move therewith.

Brackets 33 are connected to the end portions of the truck 17 beyond theends of the open side of the receiver thereon and a tripping arm 34similar to the arm 2 is adapted to be connected to the brackets ateither end of the truck.

Then it is desired to effect the interchange of mail at a station, acontainer such as shown in Fig. 5 and in which the mail has first beenplaced, is mounted on the seat 30 nearest the approaching train and thethrowing member 28 is shifted so that said seat will be extended partlyor entirely into the receiver made up of frame 18 and covering 19. Thetruck 17 is pushed toward the track on which the car A is traveling,thus placing the springs 26 under stress. Pin 22 will engage in thenotch 21 and lock the truck in the position to which it has beenshifted. r1`he mail to be delivered to the station is placed in areceiver such as shown in Fig. 5 and said container is placed on thethrowing member' 8 and said member is swung outwardly to position bevondthe side of the car wherev it is held by the button 6 engaging thearcuate arm 5 on which the throwing member is mounted.

The container 13 is adapted to be arranged on the seat 12 nearest thestation being approached and, when the throwing member 8 is in setposition, the seat on which the container is mounted is preferablylocated within the door opening, as shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, thearm 341 is disposed at that side of truck 17 nearest the approaching carwhile the ar1n2is placed at that side of the door opening a nearest thestation being approached. lith the parts thus set it will be seen that,when the car A passes the station the arm 2 will strike the roller 32and thus cause the throwing member 2S to swing suddenly about its pivot,thus causing that end thereof on which the container 13 is mounted, tomove quickly toward the opening a so as thus to throw the container 13into the car and substantially in the direction in which the car istraveling, the parts being so proportioned that the velocity of thecontainer while being discharged into the car will be substantiallyequal to the speed at which the car is travcling so that, when thecontainer falls onto the floor of the car, it will remain practicallystationary. While the discharge of the container 13 into the car istaking place, the arm 34 is striking the roller 11 on bail 10 andcausing the throwing member 8 to shift so as to discharge the container13 thereon into the hood or receiver 18-19 at the station.Simultaneously with the interchange of the mail above described, cam 25comes in contact with lever 23 thus depressing the outer end of thelever and causing pin 22 to withdraw from notch 21. The truck 17 istherefore shifted by the springs 26 away from the car A so that none ofthe parts projecting from the truck will cause injury to the followingcars or to passengers leaning therefrom.

lVlien the train is traveling in the opposite direction the throwingmember S can be shifted to the other arm 5 and the positions of thetripping arms 2 and 34 can be reversed, as will be obvious. Theoperation of the parts will then be the same as hereinbefore described.

Vhat is claimed is l. In apparatus of the class described, a centrallypivoted throwing member having oppositely extending arms, a seatarranged atthe outer end of each arm for supporting a mail container, anoutstanding element Xedly connected to the center of the throwingmember, and means for engagement with said element to swing the memberto propel the container therefrom.

2. The combination with a car structure having a door opening, of an armmounted to swing through the opening and having a pintle at its freeend, a throwing member adapted to be mounted at its center on saidpintle, a seat adjacent each free end of the throwing member forsupporting a mail container, an outstanding element fixedly connected tothe center of the throwing member, and means adapted to engage the saidelement for swinging the throwing member about its pivot during themovement of the car structure past the point of delivery.

3. The combination with a car structure having a door opening, of an armmounted to swing through the opening and having a pintle at its freeend, a throwing member adapted to be mounted at its center on saidpintle, a seat adjacent each free end of the throwing member forsupporting a mail container, an outstanding element iixedly connected tothe center of the throwing member, and means adapted to engage the saidelement for swinging the throwing member about its pivot during themovement of the car structure past the point of delivery, the throwingmember and its supporting arm being shiftable through the door openinginto or out of active position.

4. The combination with a car structure having a door opening, of an armmounted to swing through the opening and having a pintle at its freeend, a throwing member adapted to be mounted at its center on saidpintle, a seat adjacent each free end of the throwing member forsupporting a mail container, an outstanding element fixedly connected tothe center of the throwing member, means adapted to engage the saidelement for swinging the throwing member about its pivot during themovement of the car structure past the point 0f delivery, the throwingmember and its supporting arm being shiftable through the door openinginto or out of act-ive position, and means for securing said supportingarm in outwardly extended or active position.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a carstructure, a centrally pivoted throwing member carried thereby, meansadjacent each end of said member for supporting a mail container, and anoutstanding element at the center of the member, of a receiver adjacentand parallel to the path of the car, and means outstanding from thereceiver for engaging the said outstanding element to shift the throwingmember and directing the supportedmail container into the receiverduring the movement of the car past the receiver.

6. The combination with a car structure, a throwing member pivotallymounted beyond one side thereof, means adjacent each end of said memberfor supporting a mail container, and an outstanding element at thecent-er of the member, 0f a receiver adjacent and parallel with the pathof the car, that face of the receiver nearest the car being open, meansmovable with the receiver for engaging said outstanding element to shiftthe throwing member and direct the supported container into thereceiver, during the movement of the car past the receiver, means forlocking the receiver in a predetermined position relative to the path ofthe car, means for automatically shifting the receiver away from saidpath when unlocked, and means upon the car for unlocking the receiverduring the movement of the car past said receiver.

7. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a carstructure and a throwing arm pivotally mounted beyond one side of thestructure, of a receiver having an open face in parallel with the pathof the car, means for locking the receiver close t0 said path, means forautomatically shifting the receiver away from the path of the car whenunlocked, means movable with the receiver for engaging the throwingmember to actuate it and direct a supported mail container into thereceiver from the throwing member, and means carried by the car forunlocking the receiver during the movement of the car past the receiver.

8. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a carstructure and a throwing arm pivotally mounted beyond one side of thestructure, of a receiver having an open face in parallel with the pathof the car, means for locking the receiver close to said path, means forautomatically shifting the receiver away from the path of the car whenunlocked, means movable with the receiver for engaging the throwingmember to actuate it and direct a supported mail Container into thereceiver from the throw- In testimony that I claim the foregoing mgmember, means carried by the car for as my oivn I have hereto afixed myslgnal0 unlocking the receiver during the movement ture in the presenceof two Witnesses.

of the car past the receiver, a throwing mem- T 4 ber carried by thereceiver, and means upon JOHB A' CHAMBERS the car for actuating saidthrowing member NTitnesses:

to direct a supported mail container into the FRANK SPRADLINE, car Whilepassing the receiver. NoRT SrRADLIm.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

